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Children who live with smokers miss more school due to illness than those who live in households with non-smokers, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics.
Researchers analyzed data from the 2005 National Health Interview Survey that tracked, among other things, how many days of school children aged 6 to11 missed and the reason for their absence.
They found children living with one or more smokers in the home missed one to two more days of school per year on average, than those who lived with non-smokers. The research suggests that families could reduce absenteeism by 24 to 34 % if smoking was eliminated from their households.
According to the study, about one third of children in the United States live with a smoker. Among children aged 3 to 11, at least 56% have detectable levels of a chemical called serum cotinine, an indication of tobacco smoke exposure. Cotinine is a breakdown of nicotine and can be measured by analyzing levels in the blood, urine or saliva. Researchers say this establishes a link between household smoking and two specific respiratory illnesses.
"Kids living with people smoking in the home were more likely to have ear infections and chest colds," Dr. Douglas Levy, the study's principal investigator and Assistant in Health Care Policy at the Mongan Institute for Health Policy said. "Among kids who were living with smokers, a quarter to one-third of the days they missed from school can be attributed to the fact that they live with someone who smokes in the home."
Well it's really great to see that some smokers haven't taken the long weekend off and are continuing their life of denial. Harm yourself if you wish but leave the kids out of it. Why would anyone think that breathing the same chemicals that make a smoker ill would somehow be fine for a child to be inhaling all day. It's only common sense and just confirms the findings of many other studies done over many years.
to jangocat…um fat people do not produce second hand fat that is inhaled by others…so uh, i hope you are able to quit your filthy drug habit and get healthy. or at least get a better prosmoking argument. pro smoking, what a concept in a supposedly informed intelligent society.
I had a patient dying from lung cancer, who although she never smoked, lived for 50+ years with her husband who was a heavy smoker. He died first from lung cancer, and she died later from second hand smoke. Working as a nurse, the children I saw the most come in for ear infections, bronchial problems, etc. had mothers/fathers who smoked. There is a link with out a doubt!!!
Thank goodness they have discovered this information. I missed that they are doing something to help these children and their parents. Just think, those low-lifes that smoke will go on and on, over taxing our medical system. Now that we know what the only cause for medical problems in these homes is, we can disregard any other cause factor for illnesses or/and death. No cancer, no colds, no broken bones, long live non-smokers.
What's even sadder is this country has sunk to the point where self righteous people like yourself would presume to tell other people how to live. Got any obese people in your family? Obesity is the number one health cost and most destructive behavior in this country right now. Maybe we need to ban all fatty food and implement mandatory exercise? Sound absurd? So does telling other people they shouldn't smoke or drink alcohol because it's bad for them or their family. Live your own life and mind your own business how others live theirs.
It's a sad day when regular folk defend their obviously destructive drug habit. Must be some secret chemical added by the tobacco companies, approved by the FDA of course…eeeeevil for huge profits.
Your right to swing your arm ends when it hits my nose.
I agree with Audrey; although I do not smoke, I believe that any group who takes away liberties of other human beings should be ashamed and stopped if possible. What gives one group of people the right to dictate moral choice to another group of people?
let the trolling begin.
So, dear, you believe that exposing children to indoor smoke is a good thing? That children who "benefit" thus are healthier? Can you prove it?
sorry for the tyos, i am using my smartphone.
Absolutely not true.This is nothing more than junk science posing as real facts.A biased article that is typical from left wing loons.
i was one of those kids. i am 38 now, and this is an accurate report. i was a serious asthmatoc with constant hospitalization due to my mothers indoor chain smoking. yeah, life was hell. smoking is foul, and people who smoke in inclosed spaces (homes, cars)should be charged with child abuse. ignorant comments against this articleare apparently submitted by people like my mother…
Really pathetic if we look at current conditions, a small boy had dared to smoke, it all began from the influence of the environment, please keep our children not to fall on the ill effects of cigarettes
The whole thing screams agenda-driven invention. It's another one of the anti-smoker researchers, funded by an anti-smoking org whose mission statement says it's goal is to find researchers who will conduct studies that advance the movement (is that the new "science"?), thinking of a new angle to add to the "mountain of evidence" (that mirror this one) and THEN filling in the blanks. I'm sorry, the ends do not justify the means of what amounts to no more than a moral crusade. This degradation of science harms the entire field. Where there is no ethics there is no faith.